Summarized Biography

Imam Nihal Khan is trained as an Imam, chaplain, educator, and academic. He is the founder of Maktab Academy, which serves as a platform to invite Muslim professionals to engage and learn about their faith, and where he will be teaching a Cover-to-Cover tafsĩr of the Qur’an in English after Ramadan. He is also the host of the Faith in Fine Print podcast and an Arabic teacher at Fawakih Institute. In Lucknow, India, Imam Nihal received an ‘ālimiyya degree in the Islamic sciences from Nadwatul ‘Ulamā. He then graduated with a MA in Religious Studies from Hartford Seminary, during which time he completed coursework at Harvard Divinity School. Previous to this, he received a BA in Psychology from Montclair State University. Since 2021, Imam Nihal has been living in Istanbul with his wife. There, he studied the Islamic rational sciences between private classes, Darul Funün Institute, and Ibn Haldun University. He will start a PhD in Islamic Studies in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures (NELC) at the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) in Fall 2024. Feel free to subscribe to his Maktab Substack and follow him on social media @nihal201

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Born and raised in New Jersey, Nihal began his studies with the memorization of the Qur’ān from Dār al-’Ulūm New York in Jamaica, Queens, and completed it at the Ṣaut al-Furqān Academy in Teaneck, New Jersey. Since 2006, Nihal has lead tarāwīḥ prayers all throughout the United States. In 2011, he graduated from the first class of the Bayyinah Dream program in Irving, Texas with a diploma in the Arabic language.

Nihal then completed a BA in Psychology with a minor in Business from Montclair State University, wherein he served on the board of the Muslim Students Association, as well as the Youth Director at Darul Islah: Muslim Society of Bergen County. After his undergraduate studies, Nihal moved to Lucknow, India and studied at Dār al-’Ulūm Nadwatul ‘Ulamā’, wherein he graduated and received an ‘ālimiyya degree in the Islamic sciences. Upon his return to America, Nihal served as the first Imam of the West Cobb Islamic Center in Marietta, Georgia. Shortly thereafter, he moved to Connecticut to enroll at the Hartford Seminary, and graduated with a MA in Religious Studies in 2019, during which time he completed coursework and research at Harvard Divinity School.

While in Connecticut, Nihal served as the Director of Religious Affairs at the Islamic Center of Connecticut between 2018-2021. During this time, he also served as a chaplain intern at St. Francis Hospital, and completed one unit of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE). Along with serving the Center for Religious Life at Yale University as a guest instructor and regular khaṭīb, he has traveled and spoken at venues throughout. He currently lives in Istanbul with his wife.